Search for the Lost Sheep
Brothers and sisters, good morning!
I am pleased to welcome you to my first general audience.
With deep gratitude and veneration I am taking up the “witness” from the hands
of my beloved predecessor, Benedict XVI. After Easter we will resume the
catechesis on the Year of Faith. Today I would like to focus a little on Holy
Week. With Palm Sunday we began this week – the center of all the liturgical
year – in which we accompany Jesus in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.
But does it mean for us to live Holy Week? What does it
means to follow Jesus on his way to the Cross on Calvary
and the Resurrection? In his earthly mission, Jesus walked the streets of the Holy
Land ; he called twelve simple people to remain with Him, to share
his journey and continue His mission; He chose them among the people full of
faith in the promises of God. He spoke to everyone, without distinction, to the
great and the lowly; to the rich young man and the poor widow, the powerful and
the weak; He brought the mercy and forgiveness of God to all; he healed,
comforted, understood, gave hope, He led all to the presence of God who is
interested in every man and woman, like a good father and a good mother is
interested in each child. God did not wait for us to go to Him, but He moved
towards us, without calculation, without measures. This is how God is : He is
always the first, He moves towards us. Jesus lived the daily realities of most
ordinary people: He was moved by the crowd that seemed a flock without a
shepherd, and He cried in front of the suffering of Martha and Mary on the
death of their brother Lazarus; he called a tax collector to be His disciple
and also suffered the betrayal of a friend. In Christ, God has given us the
assurance that He is with us, in our midst. ” Foxes – Jesus aid – have dens and
birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head”
(Mt 8:20 ). Jesus did not have a home
because His house is the people, that us, His mission is to open all God’s
doors, to be the loving presence of God.
In Holy Week we live the highest point of this journey, this
loving plan that runs throughout the entire history of the relationship between
God and humanity. Jesus enters Jerusalem
to take the final step, in which His whole live is summarized: He gives himself
totally, He keeps nothing for Himself, not even his life. At the Last Supper,
with His friends, He shares the bread and distributes the cup “for us.” The Son
of God is offered to us, He consigns His Body and his Blood into our hands to
be with us always, to dwell among us. And on the Mount of Olives ,
as in the trial before Pilate, He puts up no resistance, He gifts Himself: He
is the Suffering Servant foretold by Isaiah, who stripped himself unto death
(cf. Is 53:12).
Jesus does not live this love that leads to sacrifice
passively or as a fatal destiny; certainly He does not hide his deep human
commotion in the face of a violent death, but He entrusts Himself with full
confidence to the Father. Jesus voluntarily consigned Himself to death to
respond to the love of God the Father, in perfect union with His will, to
demonstrate His love for us. On the cross, Jesus “loved me and gave himself for
me” (Gal 2:20 ). Each of us can say,
“He loved me and gave himself for me.” Everyone can say that “for me”.
What does this mean for us? It means that this is my, your,
our path. Living Holy Week following to Jesus not only with the emotions of the
heart, living Holy Week following Jesus means learning how to come out of
ourselves – as I said on Sunday – to reach out to others, to go to the
outskirts of existence, to be the first to move towards our brothers and
sisters, especially those who are most distant, those who are forgotten, those
who are most in need of understanding, consolation and help. There is so much
need to bring the living presence of Jesus, merciful and full of love!
Living Holy Week means increasingly entering into God’s
logic, the logic of the Cross, which is not first of all that of pain and
death, but of love and of self-giving that brings life. It means entering into
the logic of the Gospel. Following, accompanying Christ, remaining with him
requires an “stepping outside” stepping outside. Stepping outside of ourselves,
of a tired and routine way of living the faith, of the temptation to withdraw
into pre-established patterns that end up closing our horizon to the creative
action of God. God stepped outside of Himself to come among us, He pitched His
tent among us to bring the mercy of God that saves and gives hope. Even if we
want to follow Him and stay with Him, we must not be content to remain in the
enclosure of the ninety-nine sheep, we have to “step outside”, to search for
the lost sheep together with Him, the one furthest away. Remember well:
stepping outside of ourselves, like Jesus, like God has stepped outside of
Himself in Jesus and Jesus stepped outside of Himself for.
Some might say to me, “But, Father, I have no time”, “I have
so many things to do”, “it is difficult”, “what can I do with my little strength?”,
with my sin, with so many things ? Often we settle for a few prayers, a
distracted and inconsistent presence at Sunday Mass, a random act of charity,
but we lack this courage to “step outside” to bring Christ. We are a bit like
St. Peter. As soon as Jesus speaks of the Passion, Death and Resurrection, of
self-giving, of love for all, the Apostle takes him aside and rebukes him. What
Jesus says upsets his plans, seems unacceptable, undermines the sense of
security that he had built up, his idea of the Messiah. And Jesus looks at
the disciples and addresses Peter with perhaps one of the strongest words of
the Gospel: ” Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as
human beings do”(Mk 8:33 ). God always
thinks with mercy: do not forget this. God always thinks with mercy: our
merciful Father. God thinks like a father who awaits the return of his child
and goes to meet him, sees him come when he is still far away … What does this
mean? That each and every day he went out to see if his son was coming home.
This is our merciful Father. It is the sign that He was waiting for him from
the terrace of is house; God thinks like the Samaritan that does not approach
the victim to commiserate with him, or look the other way, but rescue him without
asking for anything in return, without asking if he was Jew, if it was pagan, a
Samaritan, rich or poor: he does not ask anything. He does not ask these
things, he asks for nothing. He goes to his aid: This is how God thinks. God
thinks like the shepherd who gives his life to defend and save his sheep.
Holy Week is a time of grace which the Lord gifts us to open
the doors of our hearts, our lives, our parishes – what a pity, so many
parishes are closed! – in our parishes, movements, associations, and to “step
outside” towards others, to draw close to them so we can bring the light and
joy of our faith. Always step outside yourself! And with the love and
tenderness of God, with respect and patience, knowing that we put our hands,
our feet, our hearts, but then it is God who guides them and makes all our
actions fruitful.
May you all live these days well following the Lord with
courage, carrying within a ray of His love for all those whom we meet.
Catholics must think like Christ
A Christian
isn’t a person who simply follows some commandments, but is a person who tries
to act, think and love like Christ. Being
a Christian means allowing Jesus to take possession of our lives and change
them, transform them, free us from the darkness of evil and sin. Jesus’ death and resurrection has a practical
impact on believers, just like a house built on a foundation; if this gives
out, then the whole house falls. Through the resurrection we are freed from
slavery to sin and become children of God.
Being a
child of God, a believer, isn’t something Christians can set in a corner of the
room and ignore most of the time. It implies a relationship with God that is
deepened daily through prayer, reading the Bible, receiving the sacraments especially
penance and the Eucharist and through acts of charity. And God treats us like sons
and daughters. He understands us, forgives us, embraces us and loves us even
when we make mistakes.
Do not listen
to voices that try to tell you that God doesn’t matter or give in to the
temptation of putting God aside and ourselves at the centre. Peace and joy come from knowing one is loved
by God. God is our strength. God is our
hope. Sadness and the temptation of
despair is strong in today’s world, so Christians have an obligation to be visible,
clear, brilliant signs of hope.
How many
times in our lives have our hopes been dashed? How many times have the expectations
we carried in our hearts not been realised? Christian hope is strong, certain,
solid on this earth that God has called us to walk on and is open to eternity,
because this hope is built on God who is always faithful and because through
baptism we, too, are risen with Christ.
You cannot proclaim the Gospel if you are a ‘slave to
sorrow’
It is impossible to proclaim Jesus if you are a “slave” to
your sorrows. It is the Spirit that
guides us: He is the author of joy, the Creator of joy. And this joy in the
Holy Spirit gives us true Christian freedom. Without joy, we Christians cannot
become free, we become slaves to our sorrows. The great Paul VI said that you
cannot advance the Gospel with sad, hopeless, discouraged Christians. You
cannot. A certain mournful behaviour, no? Often Christians behave as if they were going to a funeral
procession rather than to praise God, no? And this joy comes from praise,
Mary’s praise, this praise that Zephaniah speaks of, Simeon and Anna’s praise:
this praise of God!”
You here at Mass, do you give praise to God or do you only
petition God and thank God? Do you praise God? This is something new, new in
our new spiritual life. Giving praise to God, coming out of ourselves to give
praise; spending a little bit of time giving praise.
“But ‘this Mass is so long!’ If you do not praise God, you
will never know the gratuity of spending time praising God, the Mass is long.
But if you go with this attitude of joy, of praise to God, that is beautiful!
This is what eternity will be: giving praise to God! And that will not be
boring: it will be beautiful! This joy makes us free. ”
Mary brings the greatest
joy, which is Jesus. We need to pray to Our Lady, so that bringing
Jesus gives us the grace of joy, the joy of freedom. ‘Lady, thou who art so great, visit us and give us joy.’
The Lord spoke to Elijah in the sound of silence Pope Francis said.
If silence is not one of the sounds associated with Christmas preparations, people might miss an experience of the love and tenderness that is at the heart of the holiday It’s not so much what God says as how he says it. When a child has a bad dream and wakes up crying, Dad goes and says, ‘Don’t be afraid, don’t be scared. I’m here.’ The Lord speaks this way, too, where in Isaiah 41, He reassures Jacob, affectionately calling him a little worm. When we watch a dad or mom talking to a child, we see how they become small, using the voice of a child and the gestures of a child. From the outside one can think, ‘Oh, how ridiculous.’ They make themselves smaller, don’t they? That’s because a father’s or mother’s love needs to be close. I’d say this: They need to crouch down to enter the world of the child. It is obvious that parents don’t have to talk like a baby to their children to be understood, but sometimes it helps if they “make themselves children". The Lord is like that, too. And so, the father and the mother say ridiculous things to the child, like, ‘Ah, my love, my toy’. The Lord says these things, too: ‘You worm, Jacob,’ ‘You are like a worm to me, a tiny little thing, but I love you so much.’” The language of the Lord is the language of love and tenderness, of whispers and extreme simplicity.When the Lord spoke to Elijah, it was not in the roar of the wind or the rumble of an earthquake, but in “the sound of that silence that is proper to love” and “doesn’t make a spectacle.” This is the music of the Lord’s language and, as we prepare for Christmas, we must listen for it. It will do us good to hear it. Usually, Christmas seems like a very noisy feast, but we can use a bit of silence to hear these words of love, closeness and tenderness.
Search for the Lost Sheep
Brothers and sisters, good morning!
I am pleased to welcome you to my first general audience.
With deep gratitude and veneration I am taking up the “witness” from the hands
of my beloved predecessor, Benedict XVI. After Easter we will resume the
catechesis on the Year of Faith. Today I would like to focus a little on Holy
Week. With Palm Sunday we began this week – the center of all the liturgical
year – in which we accompany Jesus in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.
But does it mean for us to live Holy Week? What does it
means to follow Jesus on his way to the Cross on Calvary
and the Resurrection? In his earthly mission, Jesus walked the streets of the Holy
Land ; he called twelve simple people to remain with Him, to share
his journey and continue His mission; He chose them among the people full of
faith in the promises of God. He spoke to everyone, without distinction, to the
great and the lowly; to the rich young man and the poor widow, the powerful and
the weak; He brought the mercy and forgiveness of God to all; he healed,
comforted, understood, gave hope, He led all to the presence of God who is
interested in every man and woman, like a good father and a good mother is
interested in each child. God did not wait for us to go to Him, but He moved
towards us, without calculation, without measures. This is how God is : He is
always the first, He moves towards us. Jesus lived the daily realities of most
ordinary people: He was moved by the crowd that seemed a flock without a
shepherd, and He cried in front of the suffering of Martha and Mary on the
death of their brother Lazarus; he called a tax collector to be His disciple
and also suffered the betrayal of a friend. In Christ, God has given us the
assurance that He is with us, in our midst. ” Foxes – Jesus aid – have dens and
birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head”
(Mt 8:20 ). Jesus did not have a home
because His house is the people, that us, His mission is to open all God’s
doors, to be the loving presence of God.
In Holy Week we live the highest point of this journey, this
loving plan that runs throughout the entire history of the relationship between
God and humanity. Jesus enters Jerusalem
to take the final step, in which His whole live is summarized: He gives himself
totally, He keeps nothing for Himself, not even his life. At the Last Supper,
with His friends, He shares the bread and distributes the cup “for us.” The Son
of God is offered to us, He consigns His Body and his Blood into our hands to
be with us always, to dwell among us. And on the Mount of Olives ,
as in the trial before Pilate, He puts up no resistance, He gifts Himself: He
is the Suffering Servant foretold by Isaiah, who stripped himself unto death
(cf. Is 53:12).
Jesus does not live this love that leads to sacrifice
passively or as a fatal destiny; certainly He does not hide his deep human
commotion in the face of a violent death, but He entrusts Himself with full
confidence to the Father. Jesus voluntarily consigned Himself to death to
respond to the love of God the Father, in perfect union with His will, to
demonstrate His love for us. On the cross, Jesus “loved me and gave himself for
me” (Gal 2:20 ). Each of us can say,
“He loved me and gave himself for me.” Everyone can say that “for me”.
What does this mean for us? It means that this is my, your,
our path. Living Holy Week following to Jesus not only with the emotions of the
heart, living Holy Week following Jesus means learning how to come out of
ourselves – as I said on Sunday – to reach out to others, to go to the
outskirts of existence, to be the first to move towards our brothers and
sisters, especially those who are most distant, those who are forgotten, those
who are most in need of understanding, consolation and help. There is so much
need to bring the living presence of Jesus, merciful and full of love!
Living Holy Week means increasingly entering into God’s
logic, the logic of the Cross, which is not first of all that of pain and
death, but of love and of self-giving that brings life. It means entering into
the logic of the Gospel. Following, accompanying Christ, remaining with him
requires an “stepping outside” stepping outside. Stepping outside of ourselves,
of a tired and routine way of living the faith, of the temptation to withdraw
into pre-established patterns that end up closing our horizon to the creative
action of God. God stepped outside of Himself to come among us, He pitched His
tent among us to bring the mercy of God that saves and gives hope. Even if we
want to follow Him and stay with Him, we must not be content to remain in the
enclosure of the ninety-nine sheep, we have to “step outside”, to search for
the lost sheep together with Him, the one furthest away. Remember well:
stepping outside of ourselves, like Jesus, like God has stepped outside of
Himself in Jesus and Jesus stepped outside of Himself for.
Some might say to me, “But, Father, I have no time”, “I have
so many things to do”, “it is difficult”, “what can I do with my little strength?”,
with my sin, with so many things ? Often we settle for a few prayers, a
distracted and inconsistent presence at Sunday Mass, a random act of charity,
but we lack this courage to “step outside” to bring Christ. We are a bit like
St. Peter. As soon as Jesus speaks of the Passion, Death and Resurrection, of
self-giving, of love for all, the Apostle takes him aside and rebukes him. What
Jesus says upsets his plans, seems unacceptable, undermines the sense of
security that he had built up, his idea of the Messiah. And Jesus looks at
the disciples and addresses Peter with perhaps one of the strongest words of
the Gospel: ” Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as
human beings do”(Mk 8:33 ). God always
thinks with mercy: do not forget this. God always thinks with mercy: our
merciful Father. God thinks like a father who awaits the return of his child
and goes to meet him, sees him come when he is still far away … What does this
mean? That each and every day he went out to see if his son was coming home.
This is our merciful Father. It is the sign that He was waiting for him from
the terrace of is house; God thinks like the Samaritan that does not approach
the victim to commiserate with him, or look the other way, but rescue him without
asking for anything in return, without asking if he was Jew, if it was pagan, a
Samaritan, rich or poor: he does not ask anything. He does not ask these
things, he asks for nothing. He goes to his aid: This is how God thinks. God
thinks like the shepherd who gives his life to defend and save his sheep.
Holy Week is a time of grace which the Lord gifts us to open
the doors of our hearts, our lives, our parishes – what a pity, so many
parishes are closed! – in our parishes, movements, associations, and to “step
outside” towards others, to draw close to them so we can bring the light and
joy of our faith. Always step outside yourself! And with the love and
tenderness of God, with respect and patience, knowing that we put our hands,
our feet, our hearts, but then it is God who guides them and makes all our
actions fruitful.
May you all live these days well following the Lord with
courage, carrying within a ray of His love for all those whom we meet.
Catholics must think like Christ
A Christian
isn’t a person who simply follows some commandments, but is a person who tries
to act, think and love like Christ. Being
a Christian means allowing Jesus to take possession of our lives and change
them, transform them, free us from the darkness of evil and sin. Jesus’ death and resurrection has a practical
impact on believers, just like a house built on a foundation; if this gives
out, then the whole house falls. Through the resurrection we are freed from
slavery to sin and become children of God.
Being a
child of God, a believer, isn’t something Christians can set in a corner of the
room and ignore most of the time. It implies a relationship with God that is
deepened daily through prayer, reading the Bible, receiving the sacraments especially
penance and the Eucharist and through acts of charity. And God treats us like sons
and daughters. He understands us, forgives us, embraces us and loves us even
when we make mistakes.
Do not listen
to voices that try to tell you that God doesn’t matter or give in to the
temptation of putting God aside and ourselves at the centre. Peace and joy come from knowing one is loved
by God. God is our strength. God is our
hope. Sadness and the temptation of
despair is strong in today’s world, so Christians have an obligation to be visible,
clear, brilliant signs of hope.
How many
times in our lives have our hopes been dashed? How many times have the expectations
we carried in our hearts not been realised? Christian hope is strong, certain,
solid on this earth that God has called us to walk on and is open to eternity,
because this hope is built on God who is always faithful and because through
baptism we, too, are risen with Christ.
You cannot proclaim the Gospel if you are a ‘slave to
sorrow’
It is impossible to proclaim Jesus if you are a “slave” to
your sorrows. It is the Spirit that
guides us: He is the author of joy, the Creator of joy. And this joy in the
Holy Spirit gives us true Christian freedom. Without joy, we Christians cannot
become free, we become slaves to our sorrows. The great Paul VI said that you
cannot advance the Gospel with sad, hopeless, discouraged Christians. You
cannot. A certain mournful behaviour, no? Often Christians behave as if they were going to a funeral
procession rather than to praise God, no? And this joy comes from praise,
Mary’s praise, this praise that Zephaniah speaks of, Simeon and Anna’s praise:
this praise of God!”
Search for the Lost Sheep
Brothers and sisters, good morning!
I am pleased to welcome you to my first general audience.
With deep gratitude and veneration I am taking up the “witness” from the hands
of my beloved predecessor, Benedict XVI. After Easter we will resume the
catechesis on the Year of Faith. Today I would like to focus a little on Holy
Week. With Palm Sunday we began this week – the center of all the liturgical
year – in which we accompany Jesus in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.
But does it mean for us to live Holy Week? What does it
means to follow Jesus on his way to the Cross on Calvary
and the Resurrection? In his earthly mission, Jesus walked the streets of the Holy
Land ; he called twelve simple people to remain with Him, to share
his journey and continue His mission; He chose them among the people full of
faith in the promises of God. He spoke to everyone, without distinction, to the
great and the lowly; to the rich young man and the poor widow, the powerful and
the weak; He brought the mercy and forgiveness of God to all; he healed,
comforted, understood, gave hope, He led all to the presence of God who is
interested in every man and woman, like a good father and a good mother is
interested in each child. God did not wait for us to go to Him, but He moved
towards us, without calculation, without measures. This is how God is : He is
always the first, He moves towards us. Jesus lived the daily realities of most
ordinary people: He was moved by the crowd that seemed a flock without a
shepherd, and He cried in front of the suffering of Martha and Mary on the
death of their brother Lazarus; he called a tax collector to be His disciple
and also suffered the betrayal of a friend. In Christ, God has given us the
assurance that He is with us, in our midst. ” Foxes – Jesus aid – have dens and
birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head”
(Mt 8:20 ). Jesus did not have a home
because His house is the people, that us, His mission is to open all God’s
doors, to be the loving presence of God.
In Holy Week we live the highest point of this journey, this
loving plan that runs throughout the entire history of the relationship between
God and humanity. Jesus enters Jerusalem
to take the final step, in which His whole live is summarized: He gives himself
totally, He keeps nothing for Himself, not even his life. At the Last Supper,
with His friends, He shares the bread and distributes the cup “for us.” The Son
of God is offered to us, He consigns His Body and his Blood into our hands to
be with us always, to dwell among us. And on the Mount of Olives ,
as in the trial before Pilate, He puts up no resistance, He gifts Himself: He
is the Suffering Servant foretold by Isaiah, who stripped himself unto death
(cf. Is 53:12).
Jesus does not live this love that leads to sacrifice
passively or as a fatal destiny; certainly He does not hide his deep human
commotion in the face of a violent death, but He entrusts Himself with full
confidence to the Father. Jesus voluntarily consigned Himself to death to
respond to the love of God the Father, in perfect union with His will, to
demonstrate His love for us. On the cross, Jesus “loved me and gave himself for
me” (Gal 2:20 ). Each of us can say,
“He loved me and gave himself for me.” Everyone can say that “for me”.
What does this mean for us? It means that this is my, your,
our path. Living Holy Week following to Jesus not only with the emotions of the
heart, living Holy Week following Jesus means learning how to come out of
ourselves – as I said on Sunday – to reach out to others, to go to the
outskirts of existence, to be the first to move towards our brothers and
sisters, especially those who are most distant, those who are forgotten, those
who are most in need of understanding, consolation and help. There is so much
need to bring the living presence of Jesus, merciful and full of love!
Living Holy Week means increasingly entering into God’s
logic, the logic of the Cross, which is not first of all that of pain and
death, but of love and of self-giving that brings life. It means entering into
the logic of the Gospel. Following, accompanying Christ, remaining with him
requires an “stepping outside” stepping outside. Stepping outside of ourselves,
of a tired and routine way of living the faith, of the temptation to withdraw
into pre-established patterns that end up closing our horizon to the creative
action of God. God stepped outside of Himself to come among us, He pitched His
tent among us to bring the mercy of God that saves and gives hope. Even if we
want to follow Him and stay with Him, we must not be content to remain in the
enclosure of the ninety-nine sheep, we have to “step outside”, to search for
the lost sheep together with Him, the one furthest away. Remember well:
stepping outside of ourselves, like Jesus, like God has stepped outside of
Himself in Jesus and Jesus stepped outside of Himself for.
Some might say to me, “But, Father, I have no time”, “I have
so many things to do”, “it is difficult”, “what can I do with my little strength?”,
with my sin, with so many things ? Often we settle for a few prayers, a
distracted and inconsistent presence at Sunday Mass, a random act of charity,
but we lack this courage to “step outside” to bring Christ. We are a bit like
St. Peter. As soon as Jesus speaks of the Passion, Death and Resurrection, of
self-giving, of love for all, the Apostle takes him aside and rebukes him. What
Jesus says upsets his plans, seems unacceptable, undermines the sense of
security that he had built up, his idea of the Messiah. And Jesus looks at
the disciples and addresses Peter with perhaps one of the strongest words of
the Gospel: ” Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as
human beings do”(Mk 8:33 ). God always
thinks with mercy: do not forget this. God always thinks with mercy: our
merciful Father. God thinks like a father who awaits the return of his child
and goes to meet him, sees him come when he is still far away … What does this
mean? That each and every day he went out to see if his son was coming home.
This is our merciful Father. It is the sign that He was waiting for him from
the terrace of is house; God thinks like the Samaritan that does not approach
the victim to commiserate with him, or look the other way, but rescue him without
asking for anything in return, without asking if he was Jew, if it was pagan, a
Samaritan, rich or poor: he does not ask anything. He does not ask these
things, he asks for nothing. He goes to his aid: This is how God thinks. God
thinks like the shepherd who gives his life to defend and save his sheep.
Holy Week is a time of grace which the Lord gifts us to open
the doors of our hearts, our lives, our parishes – what a pity, so many
parishes are closed! – in our parishes, movements, associations, and to “step
outside” towards others, to draw close to them so we can bring the light and
joy of our faith. Always step outside yourself! And with the love and
tenderness of God, with respect and patience, knowing that we put our hands,
our feet, our hearts, but then it is God who guides them and makes all our
actions fruitful.
May you all live these days well following the Lord with
courage, carrying within a ray of His love for all those whom we meet.
Catholics must think like Christ
A Christian isn’t a person who simply follows some commandments, but is a person who tries to act, think and love like Christ. Being a Christian means allowing Jesus to take possession of our lives and change them, transform them, free us from the darkness of evil and sin. Jesus’ death and resurrection has a practical impact on believers, just like a house built on a foundation; if this gives out, then the whole house falls. Through the resurrection we are freed from slavery to sin and become children of God.
Being a
child of God, a believer, isn’t something Christians can set in a corner of the
room and ignore most of the time. It implies a relationship with God that is
deepened daily through prayer, reading the Bible, receiving the sacraments especially
penance and the Eucharist and through acts of charity. And God treats us like sons
and daughters. He understands us, forgives us, embraces us and loves us even
when we make mistakes.
Do not listen
to voices that try to tell you that God doesn’t matter or give in to the
temptation of putting God aside and ourselves at the centre. Peace and joy come from knowing one is loved
by God. God is our strength. God is our
hope. Sadness and the temptation of
despair is strong in today’s world, so Christians have an obligation to be visible,
clear, brilliant signs of hope.
How many
times in our lives have our hopes been dashed? How many times have the expectations
we carried in our hearts not been realised? Christian hope is strong, certain,
solid on this earth that God has called us to walk on and is open to eternity,
because this hope is built on God who is always faithful and because through
baptism we, too, are risen with Christ.
You cannot proclaim the Gospel if you are a ‘slave to sorrow’
It is impossible to proclaim Jesus if you are a “slave” to
your sorrows. It is the Spirit that
guides us: He is the author of joy, the Creator of joy. And this joy in the
Holy Spirit gives us true Christian freedom. Without joy, we Christians cannot
become free, we become slaves to our sorrows. The great Paul VI said that you
cannot advance the Gospel with sad, hopeless, discouraged Christians. You
cannot. A certain mournful behaviour, no? Often Christians behave as if they were going to a funeral
procession rather than to praise God, no? And this joy comes from praise,
Mary’s praise, this praise that Zephaniah speaks of, Simeon and Anna’s praise:
this praise of God!”
You here at Mass, do you give praise to God or do you only
petition God and thank God? Do you praise God? This is something new, new in
our new spiritual life. Giving praise to God, coming out of ourselves to give
praise; spending a little bit of time giving praise.
“But ‘this Mass is so long!’ If you do not praise God, you
will never know the gratuity of spending time praising God, the Mass is long.
But if you go with this attitude of joy, of praise to God, that is beautiful!
This is what eternity will be: giving praise to God! And that will not be
boring: it will be beautiful! This joy makes us free. ”
Mary brings the greatest
joy, which is Jesus. We need to pray to Our Lady, so that bringing
Jesus gives us the grace of joy, the joy of freedom. ‘Lady, thou who art so great, visit us and give us joy.’
The Lord spoke to Elijah in the sound of silence Pope Francis said.
If silence is not one of the sounds associated with Christmas preparations, people might miss an experience of the love and tenderness that is at the heart of the holiday It’s not so much what God says as how he says it. When a child has a bad dream and wakes up crying, Dad goes and says, ‘Don’t be afraid, don’t be scared. I’m here.’ The Lord speaks this way, too, where in Isaiah 41, He reassures Jacob, affectionately calling him a little worm. When we watch a dad or mom talking to a child, we see how they become small, using the voice of a child and the gestures of a child. From the outside one can think, ‘Oh, how ridiculous.’ They make themselves smaller, don’t they? That’s because a father’s or mother’s love needs to be close. I’d say this: They need to crouch down to enter the world of the child. It is obvious that parents don’t have to talk like a baby to their children to be understood, but sometimes it helps if they “make themselves children". The Lord is like that, too. And so, the father and the mother say ridiculous things to the child, like, ‘Ah, my love, my toy’. The Lord says these things, too: ‘You worm, Jacob,’ ‘You are like a worm to me, a tiny little thing, but I love you so much.’” The language of the Lord is the language of love and tenderness, of whispers and extreme simplicity.When the Lord spoke to Elijah, it was not in the roar of the wind or the rumble of an earthquake, but in “the sound of that silence that is proper to love” and “doesn’t make a spectacle.” This is the music of the Lord’s language and, as we prepare for Christmas, we must listen for it. It will do us good to hear it. Usually, Christmas seems like a very noisy feast, but we can use a bit of silence to hear these words of love, closeness and tenderness.
"Do not be afraid!" Pope Francis’s homily at Christmas night Mass at St Peter’s ***
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Is 9:1).
This prophecy of Isaiah never ceases to touch us, especially when we hear it proclaimed in the liturgy of Christmas night. This is not simply an emotional or sentimental matter. It moves us because it states the deep reality of what we are: a people who walk, and all around us – and within us as well – there is darkness and light. In this night, as the spirit of darkness enfolds the world, there takes place anew the event which always amazes and surprises us: the people who walk see a great light. A light which makes us reflect on this mystery: the mystery of walking and seeing. Walking: this verb makes us reflect on the course of history, that long journey which is the history of salvation, starting with Abraham, our father in faith, whom the Lord called one day to set out, to go forth from his country toward the land which he would show him. From that time on, our identity as believers has been that of a people making its pilgrim way toward the promised land. This history has always been accompanied by the Lord! He is ever faithful to his covenant and to his promises. “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5).
Yet on the part of the people there are times of both light and darkness, fidelity and infidelity, obedience, and rebellion; times of being a pilgrim people and times of being a people adrift. In our personal history too, there are both bright and dark moments, lights and shadows. If we love God and our brothers and sisters, we walk in the light; but if our heart is closed, if we are dominated by pride, deceit, self-seeking, then darkness falls within us and around us. “Whoever hates his brother – writes the Apostle John – is in the darkness; he walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 Jn 2:11).
On this night, like a burst of brilliant light, there rings out the proclamation of the Apostle: “God’s grace has been revealed, and it has made salvation possible for the whole human race” (Tit 2:11).
The grace which was revealed in our world is Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, true man and true God. He has entered our history; he has shared our journey. He came to free us from darkness and to grant us light. In him was revealed the grace, the mercy, and the tender love of the Father: Jesus is Love incarnate. He is not simply a teacher of wisdom, he is not an ideal for which we strive while knowing that we are hopelessly distant from it. He is the meaning of life and history, who has pitched his tent in our midst.The shepherds were the first to see this “tent”, to receive the news of Jesus’s birth. They were the first because they were among the last, the outcast. And they were the first because they were awake, keeping watch in the night, guarding their flocks. Together with them, let us pause before the Child, let us pause in silence. Together with them, let us thank the Lord for having given Jesus to us, and with them let us raise from the depths of our hearts the praises of his fidelity: We bless you, Lord God most high, who lowered yourself for our sake. You are immense, and you made yourself small; you are rich and you made yourself poor; you are all-powerful and you made yourself vulnerable.
On this night let us share the joy of the Gospel: God loves us, he so loves us that he gave us his Son to be our brother, to be light in our darkness.
To us the Lord repeats: “Do not be afraid!” (Lk 2:10). And I too repeat: Do not be afraid! Our Father is patient, he loves us, he gives us Jesus to guide us on the way which leads to the promised land. Jesus is the light who brightens the darkness. He is our peace. Amen.
From Pope Francis 27th April 2014
At the heart of this Sunday, which concludes the Octave of Easter and which John Paul II wished to dedicate to Divine Mercy, are the glorious wounds of the risen Jesus.He had already shown those wounds when he first appeared to the Apostles on the very evening of that day following the Sabbath, the day of the resurrection. But Thomas was not there that evening, and when the others told him that they had seen the Lord, he replied that unless he himself saw and touched those wounds, he would not believe.
A week later, Jesus appeared once more to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room, and Thomas was present; Jesus turned to him and told him to touch his wounds. Whereupon that man, so straightforward and accustomed to testing everything personally, knelt before Jesus with the words: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28).
The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith. That is why on the body of the risen Christ the wounds never pass away: they remain, for those wounds are the enduring sign of God’s love for us. They are essential for believing in God. Not for believing that God exists, but for believing that God is love, mercy and faithfulness. Saint Peter, quoting Isaiah, writes to Christians: “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet 2:24, cf. Is 53:5).
John XXIII and John Paul II were not afraid to look upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side. They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not scandalized by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of their brother (cf. Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and struggles. These were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia of the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God’s goodness and mercy.They were priests, bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history; the mercy of God, shown by those five wounds, was more powerful; and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our Mother.
In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8). The hope and the joy which the risen Christ bestows on his disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing and no one can take from them. The hope and joy of Easter, forged in the crucible of self-denial, self-emptying, utter identification with sinners, even to the point of disgust at the bitterness of that chalice. Such were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God, meriting our eternal gratitude.
This hope and this joy were palpable in the earliest community of believers, in Jerusalem, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 2:42-47). It was a community which lived the heart of the Gospel, love and mercy, in simplicity and fraternity.This is also the image of the Church which the Second Vatican Council set before us. John XXIII and John Paul II cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with her pristine features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries. Let us not forget that it is the saints who give direction and growth to the Church.
In convening the Council, John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader. This was his great service to the Church; he was the pope of openness to the Spirit.In his own service to the People of God, John Paul II was the pope of the family. He himself once said that he wanted to be remembered as the pope of the family. I am particularly happy to point this out as we are in the process of journeying with families towards the Synod on the family. It is surely a journey which, from his place in heaven, he guides and sustains.
May these two new saints and shepherds of God’s people intercede for the Church, so that during this two-year journey toward the Synod she may be open to the Holy Spirit in pastoral service to the family. May both of them teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.
From Pope Francis 27th April 2014
At the heart of this Sunday, which concludes the Octave of Easter and which John Paul II wished to dedicate to Divine Mercy, are the glorious wounds of the risen Jesus.He had already shown those wounds when he first appeared to the Apostles on the very evening of that day following the Sabbath, the day of the resurrection. But Thomas was not there that evening, and when the others told him that they had seen the Lord, he replied that unless he himself saw and touched those wounds, he would not believe.
A week later, Jesus appeared once more to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room, and Thomas was present; Jesus turned to him and told him to touch his wounds. Whereupon that man, so straightforward and accustomed to testing everything personally, knelt before Jesus with the words: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28).
The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith. That is why on the body of the risen Christ the wounds never pass away: they remain, for those wounds are the enduring sign of God’s love for us. They are essential for believing in God. Not for believing that God exists, but for believing that God is love, mercy and faithfulness. Saint Peter, quoting Isaiah, writes to Christians: “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet 2:24, cf. Is 53:5).
John XXIII and John Paul II were not afraid to look upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side. They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not scandalized by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of their brother (cf. Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and struggles. These were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia of the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God’s goodness and mercy.They were priests, bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history; the mercy of God, shown by those five wounds, was more powerful; and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our Mother.
In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8). The hope and the joy which the risen Christ bestows on his disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing and no one can take from them. The hope and joy of Easter, forged in the crucible of self-denial, self-emptying, utter identification with sinners, even to the point of disgust at the bitterness of that chalice. Such were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God, meriting our eternal gratitude.
This hope and this joy were palpable in the earliest community of believers, in Jerusalem, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 2:42-47). It was a community which lived the heart of the Gospel, love and mercy, in simplicity and fraternity.This is also the image of the Church which the Second Vatican Council set before us. John XXIII and John Paul II cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with her pristine features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries. Let us not forget that it is the saints who give direction and growth to the Church.
In convening the Council, John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader. This was his great service to the Church; he was the pope of openness to the Spirit.In his own service to the People of God, John Paul II was the pope of the family. He himself once said that he wanted to be remembered as the pope of the family. I am particularly happy to point this out as we are in the process of journeying with families towards the Synod on the family. It is surely a journey which, from his place in heaven, he guides and sustains.
May these two new saints and shepherds of God’s people intercede for the Church, so that during this two-year journey toward the Synod she may be open to the Holy Spirit in pastoral service to the family. May both of them teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.
Pope Francis to young people ... and to those
young of heart!
Witness to others that God loves us
Pope Francis to young people ... and to those
young of heart!
Witness to others that God loves us
The world needs people who witness to others that God loves us, that He is our Father. In society, all individuals have the duty to serve the common good, offering what is necessary for life: food, clothing, medical care, education, information, justice.... We disciples of the Lord have a further mission: that of being “channels” that pass on Jesus' love. And in this mission you, teenagers and young people, play a special role: you are called to speak about Jesus to your peers, not only within the parish community or your association, but most of all beyond it. This is a commitment especially reserved to you, because with your courage, your enthusiasm, spontaneity and ease of getting together, you are more easily able to reach the mind and heart of those who have distanced themselves from the Lord. So many teenagers and young people your age have an immense need of someone who through their own life tells them that Jesus knows us, that Jesus loves us, that Jesus forgives us, shares our difficulties with us and supports us with his grace.
But in order to speak to others about Jesus it is necessary to know and love Him, to experience Him in prayer, in listening to his word. Your liturgical service facilitates this, it allows you to be close to Jesus, the Word and Bread of Life. Let me give you some advice: the Gospel which you hear in the liturgy, read it again to yourself, in silence, and apply it to your life; and with Christ's love, received in Holy Communion, you can put it into practice. The Lord calls each one of you to work in his field; He calls you to be joyous leaders in his Church, ready to communicate to your friends what He has communicated to you, especially his mercy.
Among the many things to do in our daily routine, one of the priorities, should be reminding ourselves of our Creator who allows us to live, who loves us, who accompanies us on our journey.
This is exactly the reason God created us in his image, we have even received the great gift of freedom from Him. If it is not exercised well, however, freedom can lead us far away from God, it can cause us to lose the dignity that he has bestowed on us. This is why bearings, directions and even rules are necessary, as much in society as in the Church, to help us to do God's will, thus living according to our dignity as men and as children of God. When not shaped by the Gospel, freedom can be transformed into slavery: the slavery of sin. Our ancestors, Adam and Eve, moving away from the divine will fell into sin, that is, into the misuse of freedom. Do not misuse your freedom! Do not squander the great dignity of being children of God that has been given to you! If you follow Jesus and his Gospel, your freedom will begin to bud and blossom like a plant in flower, and will bear good and abundant fruit! You will find authentic joy, because He wants us to be completely happy and fulfilled men and women. Only by adhering to God's will may we do good and be the light of the world and the salt of the earth!
The world needs people who witness to others that God loves us, that He is our Father. In society, all individuals have the duty to serve the common good, offering what is necessary for life: food, clothing, medical care, education, information, justice.... We disciples of the Lord have a further mission: that of being “channels” that pass on Jesus' love. And in this mission you, teenagers and young people, play a special role: you are called to speak about Jesus to your peers, not only within the parish community or your association, but most of all beyond it. This is a commitment especially reserved to you, because with your courage, your enthusiasm, spontaneity and ease of getting together, you are more easily able to reach the mind and heart of those who have distanced themselves from the Lord. So many teenagers and young people your age have an immense need of someone who through their own life tells them that Jesus knows us, that Jesus loves us, that Jesus forgives us, shares our difficulties with us and supports us with his grace.
But in order to speak to others about Jesus it is necessary to know and love Him, to experience Him in prayer, in listening to his word. Your liturgical service facilitates this, it allows you to be close to Jesus, the Word and Bread of Life. Let me give you some advice: the Gospel which you hear in the liturgy, read it again to yourself, in silence, and apply it to your life; and with Christ's love, received in Holy Communion, you can put it into practice. The Lord calls each one of you to work in his field; He calls you to be joyous leaders in his Church, ready to communicate to your friends what He has communicated to you, especially his mercy.
Among the many things to do in our daily routine, one of the priorities, should be reminding ourselves of our Creator who allows us to live, who loves us, who accompanies us on our journey.
This is exactly the reason God created us in his image, we have even received the great gift of freedom from Him. If it is not exercised well, however, freedom can lead us far away from God, it can cause us to lose the dignity that he has bestowed on us. This is why bearings, directions and even rules are necessary, as much in society as in the Church, to help us to do God's will, thus living according to our dignity as men and as children of God. When not shaped by the Gospel, freedom can be transformed into slavery: the slavery of sin. Our ancestors, Adam and Eve, moving away from the divine will fell into sin, that is, into the misuse of freedom. Do not misuse your freedom! Do not squander the great dignity of being children of God that has been given to you! If you follow Jesus and his Gospel, your freedom will begin to bud and blossom like a plant in flower, and will bear good and abundant fruit! You will find authentic joy, because He wants us to be completely happy and fulfilled men and women. Only by adhering to God's will may we do good and be the light of the world and the salt of the earth!
